Report: Warner Bros. Eyeing Investment In Machinima

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the media giant Warner Bros. is considering making a large investment in the gaming-oriented video channel Machinima.

In the report, the Wall Street Journal's Mike Shields writes, "The film studio is said to be considering putting $10 million to $15 million into the company, a gaming-centric startup that has built a big following on YouTube, according to people familiar with the situation. Machinima has been searching for more funding as well as a new CEO for several months.

Warner Bros. has until the end of this week to decide whether to invest in Machinima, which appeals largely to young males, according to people familiar with the situation. It may retain an option to buy Machinima outright."

Despite amassing over 321 million YouTube subscribers over its multitude of channels (including the popular Rooster Teeth), Machinima has struggled financially, and recently conducted layoffs.

Machinima previous received investment money from Google and other outside sources. The report says that Warners would likely install its own leadership at Machinima to replace founder and current CEO Allen DeBevoise.

Warner Bros. has itself become a major player in the video game industry with its Warner Bros. Interactive division, which is responsible for the popular Batman Arkham series.

Our Take:Obviously, the Wall Street Journal is a very credible source in the world of business and finance, so it's likely there is some truth to this report. If Warners does buy part of Machinima, it will be interesting to see how it affects the network's content, as WB would likely look to use it to promote its own offering in the gaming space.

If it does (which it will) then expect a dramatic change of content. It'll be less in touch with internet stuff and more in line with whats politically correct and you'll probably see a lot of content decrease in quality because of it. I can't put it into words but this can go south really fast.

This makes some sense. The Mortal Kombat Legacy webseries WB put out was released exclusively on Machinima and was pretty successful for them. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out and the changes that Machinima will make if it happens.

Machinima could use some new anything. I use their Xbox app once in a while and am lost with their wild a** programming. It's like childs play in there. Warner Bros is pretty decent imo. I don't associate their logo with "bad" by any means. 10mill up to buying outright could mean fresh material. They will want to keep it Machinima-ish but also add some much needed clarity to their mayhem. Or they'll just make it an add haven Batman endorsing f-kfest.

Machinima the Youtube channel and company used to be about providing actual original narrative driven content within various games but that content is now few and far between and the channel is now little more than a let's play channel, and not a very good one at that.